


I Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You

by emma_b



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Homophobic Language, M/M, Secret Relationship, minor and unimportant Ed Sheeran/Taylor Swift
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-27
Updated: 2015-03-04
Packaged: 2018-02-27 05:45:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2681354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emma_b/pseuds/emma_b
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Trouble in paradise?” Liam piped up.<br/>Harry couldn’t help but feel disappointed, the feeling sinking low in his stomach. He had a girlfriend.<br/>Louis rolled his eyes and sighed, defeated, “I don’t think I’ll ever consider anything “paradise” as long as I’m with that wench.”<br/>Harry’s ears perked up slightly, maybe there’s hope after all.<br/>“Boys! Let’s get a move on!” the coach called from across the field.<br/>Liam looked at Niall and made a face. “Catch you guys later!” Liam called and dragged Niall with him.<br/>Harry looked at Louis and felt he had to say something to him so he wouldn’t leave so quickly. “Hey, Louis? Er- sorry to keep you but… why are you with her if you don’t like her very well?” Harry asked quietly before the boy could walk away.<br/>Louis stared at him, eyebrows knitting together in contemplation. He kicked at the grass with his cleats. “I- no one’s ever asked me that before,” he said quietly.<br/>“Maybe it’s something you should put some thought into.” </p><p>Or the one where Louis has a girlfriend and falls in love with Harry Styles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cold

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I hope you guys like this fic, I do. I just wanted to tell you guys that I wrote Eleanor's character as not a nice person, really. That in no way reflects how I feel about her or how I think of her in real life. I didn't want to possibly offend anyone who likes her, that's just how her character had to be in this fic. Happy reading!
> 
> Also, Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!

Cold, cold, cold. He exhaled loudly, to show Zayn how upset he was. Harry watched his breath mingle with the outside air as it turned into a visible fog- a phenomenon that Zayn had explained to him once but he couldn’t remember why it did that.  Probably because it was so blasted cold out here.

“Oh fuck off Harry, a little cold never killed anyone,” Zayn said as they took a seat on the cold bleachers, looking out to the football field.

“Language,” Harry said to him softly. “You brought the cocoa right?”

“Yes,” Zayn nodded and took out a thermos from his backpack. “And blankets, we’ll be nice and cozy.”

“Why did I have to come watch your boyfriend at footie practice again?” Harry asked, wrapping one of the blankets around him. He was so tired; it was five in the morning. The last time he got up this early was… never.

“Because last time I came by myself, I was bored out of my bloody mind,” Zayn said, uncapping the thermos and letting the steam from the hot cocoa warm his face. “Plus the other football girlfriends made me sit with them. They’re all so _dull_.”

Harry shook his head and smiled to himself a little. He wasn’t wrong, all those hags talked about was their nails and make-up and all the sex they were having with their footballer star boyfriends.

“Plus Liam will be happy to see you here supporting him,” Zayn said with a smile.

Zayn Malik was a junior at the University of London, he’s an art major and he and Harry met in the art room. Harry was just a freshman at the time and he was completely and utterly lost and found himself in the art room, asking a breathtaking boy where the hell he was and how he could get back to his dorm. He introduced himself as Zayn and they spent the next fifteen minutes looking at his artwork which was truly amazing. Zayn, being the gentleman he was, walked Harry back to his dorm which is where Zayn met Liam Payne.

Liam was Harry’s roommate their first year at uni. Liam was someone he didn’t really see himself getting along with because he had a bit of a mouth on him and he said some pretty stupid shit sometimes. They were both freshman and moved a long way away from home, they bonded over it, and it turned out that he was really nice and sweet and quite funny.

Once Liam set eyes on Zayn, Harry knew Liam was gone for him. In his defense, Zayn was _really_ quite beautiful. Zayn was just as gone for Liam but it took them almost a full year to get together- they got together just before the start of this school year. It was kind of weird at first, because when they'd decided to room together this year, they were still friends. They were going to find different roommates but ultimately decided to give it a go- thanks to Harry. Liam suspected it was because Harry didn't want a rommate, but Harry insisted it was just because he was trying to be a supportive friend.

Harry sighed, hoping this semester would go by quickly, he already missed his mum and his sister Gemma. Save for Zayn and Liam, he didn’t have any other friends and it didn’t help that he third wheeled whenever the three of them hung out together.

Harry’s mission was to make new friends this semester, even if it killed him. He was a bit quieter now than he was back at his old school. He liked to keep to himself, he enjoyed his alone time but that didn’t mean he liked being lonely. Which he was 97% of the time.

“Besides,” Zayn said, sipping from the thermos. “There are tons of cute guys here for you to check out. Lots of them are single.”

“But are ‘lots of them’ into boys?” Harry shivered, raising his eyebrow.

Just then the boys ran out onto the field, yelling and laughing, trying to get hyped up because it was so damn cold. They were all wearing jogging pants and sweatshirts but they looked miserable tired and cold and probably hungry.

“Who knows,” Zayn said, watching the boys on the field. “Look there’s Liam!” he said, hitting Harry’s arm to get his attention. “Liam! Liam! Hi Liam!”

Harry saw Liam look over in their direction and a huge smile took over his face, he was talking to someone though, a short boy with pretty hair and nice, long legs. Liam made a motion over to Zayn and Harry to which the boy shrugged and nodded.

Liam and the boy jogged over to them.

“Hi love,” Liam greeted Zayn with a kiss on the mouth.

“Oi!” the boy who came with Liam exclaimed. He turned to Harry and said, “Don’t expect me ta greet ya like that! Name’s Niall Horan.”

“Harry Styles,” Harry said back. “I’m mates with Liam and Zayn, who dragged me out here. It’s so cold.”

“You should get up and run around with us, it’ll warm ya up!” Niall said happily. He was in a cheery mood, strange for this time in the morning. He had a heavy Irish accent, Harry wondered why he had come all the way from Ireland to England.

“I’ll pass, I’m shit at footie,” Harry said shaking his head. “Plus I don’t think I’m dressed proper for exercising.”

Niall glanced at Liam and Zayn who were talking lowly to each other, their noses were pressed together. “Disgusting that lot are,” Niall said. “You go to uni here?”

“Yeah, I’m a second year,” Harry nodded. “You?”

“Yeah, second year as well. I’m here on a footie scholarship though,” Niall said. “Which means I should probably be getting back to practice instead of chatting with the fans.”

Harry laughed, “Not much of a fan mate, sorry to disappoint.”

Niall laughed, “Hey we should meet up for drinks later! Liam keeps bugging me about meeting his friends and stuff so.”

“Yeah,” Harry nodded. “It’s nice to meet some of Liam’s other friends, plus it’ll be nice to hang out with my friends and not be a third wheel.”

Niall nodded, “I know the feeling. I’m going to bring my best mate though. You’ll like him; he’s the captain of our team now. Senior, number seventeen.”

“Cool, love to meet him,” Harry nodded, looking around Niall for his friend.

“Li we should probably get back to practice before coach has a fit,” Niall said, turning to the couple who were kissing at the moment.

“Or worse, Louis,” Liam sighed, pulling away from Zayn. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay,” Zayn smiled.

“We’ll be seeing you guys later then yeah?” Niall asked. “Harry, I’ll get your number from Liam so we can discuss the details of tonight.”

Harry nodded.

“Just having a chat by the stands lads?” an unfamiliar voice called out.

“Fuck,” Liam sighed.

The boy jogged up to the four of them. He was wearing a sweatshirt and tight jogging pants underneath a pair of shorts.

“Aren’t you cold?” Harry asked the pretty boy who was in quite the mood.

“Aren’t _you_?” the boy quipped back at him.

Niall visibly rolled his eyes and said, “Be nice to my new friend, we’re all going out for drinks later tonight. Harry this is Louis, Louis this is Harry. Think you’ve already met Zayn.”

“Yeah, once or twice,” Louis smiled. He slid his eyes over to Harry and gave him a once over, which had Harry blushing in seconds. “Pleasure.”

Harry did the same. Louis was short but he had a really nice pair of legs, they were quite muscular. He also had small, soft looking hands. Louis had a really nice smile. It seemed honest and trustworthy. He had a pair of _really_ pretty blue eyes and Harry found himself not being able to look away from them.

It appeared Louis couldn’t look away either.

“How ‘bout it Lou?” Niall asked, drawing his attention from Harry. “It’ll be a boy’s night, we haven’t had one of those in forever.”

Louis considered it, “Yeah okay. I’ll just blow off Eleanor like she did me the other night, wanted to get her back for that for a while now.”

“Trouble in paradise?” Liam piped up.

Harry couldn’t help but feel disappointed, the feeling sinking low in his stomach. He had a girlfriend.

Louis rolled his eyes and sighed, defeated, “I don’t think I’ll ever consider anything “paradise” as long as I’m with that wench.”

Harry’s ears perked up slightly, maybe there’s hope after all.

“Boys! Let’s get a move on!” the coach called from across the field.

Liam looked at Niall and made a face. “Catch you guys later!” Liam called and dragged Niall with him.

Harry looked at Louis and felt he had to say _something_ to him so he wouldn’t leave so quickly. “Hey, Louis? Er- sorry to keep you but… why are you with her if you don’t like her very well?” Harry asked quietly before the boy could walk away.

 Louis stared at him, eyebrows knitting together in contemplation. He kicked at the grass with his cleats. “I- no one’s ever asked me that before,” he said quietly.

“Maybe it’s something you should put some thought into,” Harry shrugged and looked over to the pitch where the rest of the boys were playing. They all looked really happy, despite the cold.

Louis smiled slightly, “Are you only saying this because you want to shag me?”

Harry pursed his lips, trying to hide his smile. He quite liked this sassy boy. “I haven’t quite decided. I haven’t gotten a good look at your bum yet.”

“Let me help you out with that,” Louis said with a wink and walked, no, _sashayed_ away.

Harry giggled and thought maybe he could get on quite well with this Louis boy. And as it would turn out, he did have a really nice bum. Dare he say perfect.

Zayn elbowed Harry in the side with a smile, “See, I told you there would be plenty of guys to flirt with.”

Harry giggled, “You said check out, not flirt with.”

“That didn’t stop you from flirting with that Louis boy,” Zayn grinned.

“Shut up,” Harry grinned back. “Besides, he’s got a girlfriend.”

Zayn leaned back onto the bench behind them in the stands, his eyes on the field, probably looking for Liam. “That doesn’t mean he can’t like both,” he offered quietly.

 “I know,” Harry said leaning back as well. His eyes found Louis almost immediately and watched him run around, looking graceful and in control on the field. He was quite good at footie. “But he’s in a relationship. I’m not a home-wrecker, Z.”

“Can’t wreck a home that’s already broken, H,” Zayn said and started cheering after Liam.

 

Louis lived in an apartment off campus with Eleanor Calder, his longtime girlfriend and a pain in his goddamned arse.

_Pick up after yourself, Louis!_

_Do you ever do your laundry? You’re a pig._

_Do you honestly need that third piece of pizza? You’ve been getting kind of flabby lately._

_Mum’s coming over for a visit; do shave that God awful beard off your face._

_You don’t tell me you love me anymore, Louis._

_You’re going out with the boys_ again _? You’re never home anymore. Let’s just stay in and have a chat yeah?_

He couldn’t take her constant nagging anymore.

And maybe he supposes he hasn’t been the best boyfriend to her in a while, but this relationship was really draining him out. She always wanted to spend time together, even though they see each other every day. Eleanor could go out with whomever she wanted, whenever she wanted, but God forbid Louis ever leaves to hang out with his friends.

After all, she was the one who cheated on him, shouldn’t he be the one with the trust issues and not her?

It didn’t matter really, he had no problem blowing off movie night tonight to hang out with Niall and his new mates.

He was quite looking forward to seeing that Harry boy again. The boy with the curly brown hair and bright green eyes and legs that seemed to go on forever.  His nose and cheeks were red with the cold; the color contrast was nice with his skin. And those _lips_ , very pink and very plump and concealed a pretty, pretty smile.

Louis hadn’t seen someone so pretty since… well… he’d say Eleanor- who was beautiful really- but, this Harry boy was more beautiful. Breathtaking.

And he was witty, too. Harry had a clever comeback to the jab he made about Harry hitting on him. Sure Louis was just teasing him, but he didn’t realize that Harry might possibly be interested in him.

Louis liked it though, he felt desired by someone so handsome and… well, it was a good feeling.

Niall texted him to meet up with the lads at the pub a few blocks over in thirty minutes, which, given that he just got back from classes he only had time for a shower.

Eleanor came home, just as Louis finished doing his hair, grocery bags in hand and Louis’ beanie atop her long brown curls.

“Got some snacks for movie night,” she said to him, putting the bags on the counter. “I’m feeling a chick flick tonight, hope you don’t mind.”

Which, he didn’t but he’d still like to be asked.

“Why are you wearing my beanie?” Louis asked, disgruntled. He didn’t like when she took his clothes and wore them about, he didn’t like to share.

“Thought it would look cute with my outfit,” she said, gesturing to it. “You look fancy for movie night, are you taking me somewhere instead?”

“No,” Louis said. “Niall wanted to go out tonight so movie night is a no go.”

“Where? Can I come? Is Barbara going to be there?” Eleanor asked, shooting questions off at a mile a minute.

“Some bar, no, and no. It’s lads night,” Louis said, taking his beanie off her.

Eleanor frowned, “No it’s movie night. Every Wednesday is movie night.”

“Sorry, had a stressful day and I’d rather go out for a pint,” Louis said, grabbing his keys and slipping his shoes on.

“You’re joking, right?” she asked, putting a hand on her hip.

“Does it look like I am?” Louis asked, sighing. She was so impossible lately.

Eleanor’s bitchy expression fell, much like the hand on her hip, and her bottom lip started quivering, “You’re seriously blowing me off like this?”

Louis shrugged and grabbed his phone off the counter, “You didn’t have a problem doing it last week to me. So. Don’t wait up.”

Louis was out the door in a hurry, he was going to be late now. He also knew he was going to be in a lot of shit later but he didn’t care. He stopped caring about Eleanor and their relationship after she fucked Nick a month back.

They were trying to work things out but the way things seemed now, the odds were not in their favor.

There wasn’t really a reason that Louis was still with Eleanor. Louis never really put much thought into why they were still together, it was obvious they didn’t get along anymore- they weren’t even that chummy for the past year.

Maybe he should take Harry’s advice.

 

Louis walked into the pub fifteen minutes late, his hair was wind-blown and probably an absolute mess. He was cold and all he wanted to do was wrap up in a blanket and drink a warm cup of tea while watching a movie.

Basically he wanted movie night minus Eleanor.

Truth was his day was tiring, not stressful, and he didn’t really want to be here but he couldn’t sit at home with El nagging him every five seconds for a cuddle or a chat.

Louis spotted the boys who were standing at the bar and chatting up the pretty girl who was serving the drinks. She was tall and brunette and judging from her accent, American. 

He approached the group just as the girl said, “I _have_ to get back to serving the rest of the customers, unless you each are going to order something else.”

“I’ll take a pint, actually,” Louis piped up when he approached the bar and the lads.

“Sure thing,” she smiled and walked away.

“Lou! How nice ta see ya!” Niall exclaimed, wrapping him up in a hug.

Louis smiled and hugged him back, “Yeah, yeah sorry I’m a bit late.”

“Are you always late?” the deep, slow talking voice that belonged to Harry asked. “The guys told me you were quite often, but I didn’t believe them.”

Louis looked around the group of boys so he could address Harry properly. And maybe to get a look at him too, he wondered what he’d look like now that he wasn’t wrapped in a thousand blankets. “I got into a fight with Eleanor before I left,” he said.

“Can we _please_ go sit in a booth? I’m tired of standing,” Zayn piped up.

“I haven’t gotten me drink yet,” Louis pouted.

“We’ll go find us a booth and you can get your drink. We’ll save you a seat yeah? The bartender’s name is Jamie, flirt her up a bit if you want her to go faster,” Niall laughed.

“Or you could tell her she has a pleasant voice,” said Liam. “That’s what Harry said and now she seems to be quite taken with him.”

Harry blushed and buried his head into the crook of Zayn’s neck.

A pang of jealousy swept through Louis in an instant, and just as immediately as he felt it he wished he hadn’t. Just because he flirted with him once doesn’t mean he wants Louis and only Louis. For all he knew, Harry was straight. How selfish of Louis to think that Harry was interested in him when he had already had someone.

“Right, well,” Louis said. “Save me a seat, please.”

Maybe two minutes after the boys left to find a table, the bartender came back with his drink in her hand.

“Sorry about that, it’s really busy tonight and my co-worker doesn’t get in for another hour,” she said quickly.

“It’s fine, thank you,” Louis said.

“You’re friends with them, yeah?” she asked, nodding to the boys.

Louis glanced at them and ran a hand though his hair, messing it a bit before joining them. He then shrugged, “Sort of.”

 “Do you know the b-”

“The curly one is off limits,” Louis blurted and his face immediately heated up after realizing what he said. “He’s uh… er… mine?”

The girl laughed loudly, a strange laugh, but it sounded happy and it didn’t seem like she was mocking him. She licked her bottom lip and blushed slightly. “That’s fine, dude, I wanted to know about the blonde one… Niall? Do you know if he’s single? He’s absolutely adorable,” she said in a whisper.

Louis laughed and wrung his hands together out of a nervous habit, “Niall, right. He’s single, I’ll give you his number, yeah?”

Her blue eyes widened in delight. “Really?” she asked. “Thank you so much. Do you really think he’s interested in me though?”

“Don’t see why not,” Louis shrugged, writing Niall’s number on a napkin and sliding it to her. “You’re quite pretty, it’d be a shame if he wasn’t.”

Jamie picked up the napkin, making sure all of the numbers were there. “This is it? Like, you’re not trying to pull anything right? I moved here from America and British phone numbers are really weird,” she said, folding it up and putting it in her pocket anyway.

“Promise that’s it, love,” Louis smiled reassuringly. “Thanks for the beer.”

“It’s on the house, it’s not every day someone hooks me up with one of their friends. The next one won’t be free though,” she said with a wink and walked away, her shoes squeaking on the floor as she was moving quite quickly.

Louis decided she was a really nice girl as he walked over to the booth the lads got for them. Niall was sitting in a chair at the end of the table, Liam and what’s his name were sitting next to each other, leaving the only open seat next to Harry.

There is a God.

“Did you give her your number, Tommo?” Niall asked, clapping his hand on his shoulder once he sat down.

Louis grinned at him, “Well-”

“Louis,” Harry gasped, green eyes widening. “You’ve got a girlfriend!”

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist,” Louis laughed, shoving Niall’s hand off him. “I gave her _Niall’s_ number, she seemed to be quite taken with him.”

“No shit?” Niall said in surprise.

“Oh,” Harry said softly.

“Jealous she asked for Niall’s and not yours?” Louis asked curiously, taking a sip of his drink.

 Harry shrugged, “She seemed like a nice girl but I’m not interested.”

“Why the fuck not? She’s beautiful mate!” Niall exclaimed and took a huge drink from his brew.

Fucking Irishman.

“I can appreciate that she’s pretty, sure, but I don’t fancy girls,” Harry said, mostly to the table than to Niall. 

“Oh,” Niall said dumbly.

 _Oh_. Louis heart thrummed just a bit faster. Maybe Harry was actually interested in him?

“Nothing wrong with that,” Niall said to fill the silence.

“Damn straight,” Zayn growled from the other side of the booth. Truthfully Louis forgot he and Liam were even here. They didn’t talk much.

Niall laughed loudly and shook his head, “I know that Zayn I’m not a fucking twat. I’ve been around Louis enough to be comfortable with, like, gay people.”

Harry looked at Louis, his brow furling in confusion. “Don’t you have a girlfriend?”

Louis rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. How does he even explain it to them? “Well… like, Eleanor and I got together my sophomore year of high school. And, um, well… I knew I was gay- or bisexual, whatever- at the time but my parents are kind of… homophobes… so I just stayed with her?” Louis tried to explain. “It’s a fucked up situation and it probably doesn’t make sense but since my parents are paying my tuition I don’t want to upset them with the news. So.”

“She has no idea?” Zayn asked, ripping his attention away from Liam long enough to actually participate in conversation.

“No,” Louis shook his head.

“Bummer,” Liam said. “Is that why you guys have been fighting so often?”

Louis shrugged, “Partly. She cheated on me with this guy named Nick Grimshaw and we’re trying to work it out but I’m sick of her.”

“Grimshaw… Harry didn’t you have a crush on him a while ago?” Zayn asked the boy who sipped his brightly colored drink.

“Please tell me you didn’t,” Louis whined, staring at the curly haired boy waiting for his answer.

Harry blushed a bit and said, “It only lasted for a couple weeks.”

“Harold,” Louis said, swatting at his arm. “He’s so gross; you could do so much better than him.”

Zayn laughed, “Harry’s got a whole string of questionable crushes, don’t get me started on Professor Winston-”

The table erupted in laughter, even Harry who was beat red but he looked happy. Professor Ben Winston teaches first year graphic arts. He’s got a wife but everyone’s sure he’s gay. There’s also been a rumor going around that he’ll accept blow jobs for an A. Louis hasn’t taken any of his classes, but he doesn’t doubt it’s true.

“I’ve got a thing for older guys I guess,” Harry laughed and finished off his drink.

Louis wondered how much older he was than Harry.

“Greasy guys too,” Zayn laughed with him.

“The next guy you get a crush on has to be approved by all of us,” Liam said, linking his arm with Zayn’s. “Your streak of liking guys who are bad for you is over.”

Harry smiled and nodded, silently agreeing.

“You’ve got dimples,” Louis said, sticking his thumb in the dent in Harry’s cheek. “How adorable.”

“Glad you think so,” Harry smiled wider.

“Want me to get you another?” Louis offered, gesturing to his empty drink.

“Are you trying to get me drunk, Louis?” Harry asked, tilting his head to the side and a grin so huge on his face it looked like it was about to split in two.

“Only if it means I get to take you home,” Louis winked and laughed. He finished up his drink and without another word from anyone else, he got up and went to the bar ordering his next beer and whatever fruity thing Harry was drinking.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, a knowing look was shared between Zayn, Liam, and Niall during that exchange. The three were pretty sure they knew who Harry’s next crush was going to be.


	2. First Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to apologize to any Eleanor fans reading this, I wrote her as a total bitch in this chapter (well for the whole fic really) and I wanted to say I'm really sorry. This in no way reflects how I feel about her as a person in real life.

“You gonna ask him out?” Zayn asked, splattering more paint onto his canvas the next week.

Zayn stayed in the art room quite often, if he ever had a break between classes this was where he was. Often times Liam was in here with him, but he had left ten minutes ago to go to his next class.

“No,” Harry said, shaking his head. “I mean he’s cute and funny but he’s got a girlfriend.”

“But he likes boys too,” Zayn said, flicking his brush and spraying purple paint onto the canvas. He was making quite the mess but he wasn’t too concerned. “Obviously he’s not happy with… what’s her name? Eleanor?”

“But they’re still, like, together,” Harry mumbled. “Doesn’t matter if he’s not happy with her, I don’t want to move in on someone who’s in a relationship. It’s not something a gentleman would do.”

“You’re such a square,” Zayn laughed and splattered more paint, this time orange.

“Sorry I have morals!” Harry exclaimed. “I dunno, even if he wasn’t in a relationship I’d still like to get to know him more before I asked him out.”

“That’s what dates are _for_ , H,” Zayn said. “Do me a favor and mix me a pretty blue color yeah?”

Harry grabbed the paint palette Zayn was using and grabbed the bottle of blue and white paint from him. “I know that’s what dates are for, but, like, I don’t even… I just want to get to know him better is all,” Harry said, squeezing a bit of blue and white onto the palette. He mixed the colors together until he was satisfied with it.

“Pretty,” Zayn cooed and took the palette from him. “I’m not saying ask him out today or anything, but you should eventually. You two are cute together, plus he seems interested.”

“He does?” Harry asked, his heart skipping a beat.

“Please, you two were non-stop flirting the other night, especially after you got that third drink into you,” Zayn said. “’Your eyes are soooooo pretty L _ouuuuu_ ’.”

Harry blushed and laughed a little. “Well they are.”

“I know they are. He’s quite fit,” Zayn mumbled, throwing paint at his canvas. “Don’t you dare tell Liam I said that.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” Harry promised. He checked his phone after it buzzed in his pocket.

**Niall Horan: aye papi whats up**

**Me: Just hanging out with Zayn in the art room at uni.**

**Niall Horan: cool u two wanna meet with me and L for lunch or sommat ?**

**Me: I’ll ask.**

“Hey Zayn, Niall just texted and asked if we wanted to meet up with him and Louis for lunch,” Harry said. “Wanna go?”

“I could eat, just gimme a sec,” Zayn said, plashing red onto the canvas. “All done, I’ll start painting the graffiti on it tomorrow.”

Harry was sure Zayn was talking more to himself than he was to Harry.

**Me: Yeah we’re going to come. Where do you want to meet up?**

**Niall Horan: we’ll come get u ,, we’re almost to the art room anyway. room A125 rite ?**

**Me: Yes sir.**

**Niall Horan: cool mate**

**Niall Horan: Louis says he can’t wait t shag you ;-)**

**Niall Horan: *see**

Harry blushed furiously, reading it over once more to make sure what he read was actually real.

“What’s the red face for?” Zayn asked, peeking over Harry’s shoulder and read the text. “Told you he fancies you.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Harry waved him off with a grin.

 

“I can’t believe you bloody texted that to him you twat,” Louis yelled, attempting to strangle Niall after he sent that last text to Harry.

“It’s true isn’t it?” Niall laughed, fighting him off.

Louis huffed giving up on attacking Niall, “Well yeah, but he doesn’t need to know that.”

“You’re such a diva, Lou, I swear,” Niall sighed. “This isn’t the third grade; it’s not a big deal when someone finds out you want to shag them.”

Louis gasped and swatted Niall’s arm. “I am _not_ a diva,” Louis said, knowing that he was sort of lying.

Five minutes later, they found themselves deciding to have a race to see who could make it to the art room faster. Louis busted into the room first, shortly followed Niall who kept hollering about Louis taking a head start.

“You’re such a brat!” Niall complained but Louis wasn’t paying attention to him anymore.

No, his attention was focused on Harry who was laughing easily at something Zayn said. Louis’ stomach swelled with a fluttering feeling. Harry was all wild brown curls and big, bright green eyes and puffy pink lips. He was wearing black skinny jeans so tight, it was causing Louis to have a heart aneurism. He was wearing a black button up with white hearts on them, which was unbuttoned halfway down his chest. The shirt was unbuttoned so far it revealed tattoos littering his chest.

It was then when Louis decided he wanted to put his mouth all over Harry, leaving tiny bruises down his neck and on his collarbones so everyone knew he was his.

“Hey lads!” Zayn greeted the boys.

“Hey!” Niall greeted for the both of them.

Louis would not take his eyes off Harry; he wanted to drink in the sight of him as if he was a glass of water.

“Ready to go then?” Zayn asked.

Louis wondered if Zayn and Niall would notice if he stole Harry away from them so he could ravish him in the supply closet that was in here.

Harry smiled at Louis and sidled up next to him. Not only did he look good but he _smelled_ good too. “Hi,” he said softly.

“Hey yourself,” Louis smiled back, feeling the uncomfortable need to… adjust himself.

“I didn’t know you went to class today,” Harry said.

Louis nodded, and savored the way Harry’s voice sounded. Deep and slow and smooth. “I go every day except for Fridays and the weekend,” Louis said. “What about you?”

“Same here, actually,” Harry smiled. “Are you liking your classes so far?

Louis sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “No, I’m a bit pissed actually. My business class got cancelled and they threw me into some photography class because I need an arts credit or sommat. I don’t even have a real camera.”

“Photography?” Harry asked, taking interest in this.

“Yeah, it’s my next class, starts at two,” Louis said. “Which means I have a two and a half hour break between class. Kinda blows.”

“I have a photography class at two, too you know,” Harry said happily, hoping to have the same class as Louis.

“No shit?” Louis asked excited. “Room A226?”

“Yeah!” Harry said happily. “I can’t believe we have class together.”

“Sounds like fate to me,” Zayn said, elbowing Harry in the side.

Harry completely forgot that Zayn and Niall were still with them. Weird how it feels like it’s only just the two of them when they’re with other people.

“You look nice today, Harry,” Niall said. “What’s the occasion?”

“I dress like this every day,” Harry shrugged. “Do you even remember what I was wearing at the pub the other night?”

Niall laughed, “No, too drunk to remember. Do _you_ remember Louis?”

Louis blushed slightly, “The only thing I remember was wanting to know why he was even wearing clothes in the first place.”

Harry giggled, “Next time I see you, I’ll make sure not to wear any clothes.”

“Okay,” Louis smirked at him, “Then _I’ll_ make sure to bring the fuzzy handcuffs.”

Harry blushed furiously and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He looked down at the floor as they walked, his hair falling and covering his face. A disappointment to Louis, he was quite admiring his profile.

“Where are we going to eat?” Zayn asked, ignoring the other boys.

“I want McDonald’s,” Niall said. “I haven’t had a big mac in years.”

Louis rolled his eyes, “You just had one three days ago.”

“It feels like years,” Niall said, staring off into the distance dramatically. “Plus it’s cheap and it’s just across the street, so.”

“Sounds good to me, I guess,” Harry shrugged, still looking at the floor.

“Liam is gonna be so disappointed we’re hanging out without him,” Zayn said. “You know he really admires you, Louis? Thinks you’re best captain ever.”

“Really?” Louis’ heart warmed with affection. “He’s a nice lad, he’s an excellent goalie too. Works really hard.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him,” Zayn smiled.

“What nice things do you have to say about me?” Niall asked, jumping up and down almost.

“That you’re shit and I hate you,” Louis bit at him with a cold glare.

“What did I ever do to you mate?” Niall asked in mock offense, putting his hand over his heart for added effect.

Louis jabbed him in the arm with his pointer finger, “You know what you did and I’m mad at you Nialler.”

“What did you do?” Zayn asked him, quirking his perfectly shaped eyebrow up at Niall. Louis hadn’t noticed before but Zayn was quite pretty. Caramel colored skin and his eyes were a beautiful sort of molten golden color, framed with thick dark lashes. His cheek bones were high and sharp and his hair was dark and styled in a perfect quiff. What was he? Some sort of GQ model?

Liam was lucky.

“Nothin, he’s just being a prat,” Niall rolled his eyes.

Louis stuck his tongue out at him.

“What are you in the third grade?” Harry giggled beside him.

Louis smiled at him, “Second grade, actually.”

“Congratulations,” Harry smiled, his dimples appearing on either side of his cheeks. How fucking cute. “Working on your ABC’s then?”

“Please, I had those mastered by kindergarten,” Louis said, gently knocking his shoulder against Harry’s arm.

Harry threw an arm around Louis’ shoulders, “You make a good arm rest.”

“Glad you think so,” Louis smiled, throwing an arm around Harry’s torso and leaning into him to soak in his warmth and marveled how soft his shirt was underneath his hand.

A few minutes later, they were out the campus doors, the boys laughing happily together. Then Louis recognized the two women walking towards them: Eleanor and the blonde haired Parrie Edwards.

“Louis?” Eleanor asked confused. “What are you doing here?”

“I go to school here,” Louis rolled his eyes, stopping to talk to them. Harry gave him a confused look, to which Niall mouthed ‘Eleanor’ to him. He immediately dropped his arm from around Louis.

Louis sighed and reluctantly dropped his arm around Harry as well.

She rolled her eyes back at Louis, “I’m not stupid Louis. I’m just confused because I wanted to go out for lunch and you said you were busy.”

“I am busy,” Louis said, gesturing to the lads. “Obviously.”

Eleanor scoffed, crossing her arms, “You’d rather hang out with Niall and these… two strangers rather than me?”

“They’re not strangers to me,” Louis said, crossing his arms.

“Oh I know you!” Perrie said to Zayn. “You’re the _ZM_ bloke who’s always painting some really kick ass art in the art room.”

“I am, thanks,” Zayn said with a genuine smile.

“Anyway,” Eleanor said, drawing the conversation back to her and Louis. “You keep blowing me off, Louis. I don’t like it, I miss you.”

 _Ever thought I don’t miss you?_ “Yeah, well,” Louis said. “I just wanted to spend some time with the lads.”

“And who are you two?” Eleanor asked, turning her attention to Harry and Zayn.

“Harry Styles,” Harry said. “That’s Zayn Malik.”

“Hm,” Eleanor said looking them up and down. “So you two pricks are the reason my boyfriend’s free time is all taken up?”

“Don’t be a bitch to my friends! Have you ever thought that maybe I don’t want to spend time with you, Eleanor?” Louis asked, getting pissed.

“You’re serious?” she gasped.

“Lou maybe now’s not a good time,” Harry suggested, glancing at Niall, Zayn, and Perrie.

Louis glanced at his friends, whose eyes were wide with shock. “You guys go on ahead without me. It won’t take me too much longer,” he said.

“Yeah, you too Perrie,” Eleanor said. Perrie walked off without so much as a goodbye.

“I can wait with you,” Harry offered, glancing at Eleanor who looked absolutely pissed.

Louis half smiled, “That’s okay,” he said, putting his hand on his arm gently. “Thanks though.”

Harry smiled softly at him and ran to catch up with the other boys.

“All you’ve done here is embarrass yourself,” Eleanor said, placing a hand on her hip.

“Think that’s the other way around actually,” Louis snorted, mimicking her hand on hip thing. She hated it when Louis copied her like that.

Eleanor scoffed and tossed her long brown hair over her shoulder. Something she only did when she was about to lay into someone. “Listen here-”

“No, you listen,” Louis, snapped cutting her off. He was having a great day and he wasn’t about to let Eleanor spoil it for him. “I’ve been your little pet for over a month now, doing everything you tell me to and hardly ever seeing my friends. And I’m sick of it. I’m allowed to hang out with my friends whenever I bloody well please. You can go out with your friends whenever you want, don’t see why I can’t too.”

“Louis don’t be a dick about this,” Eleanor said, narrowing her eyes at him. “You’ve been treating me like shit lately and I’ve just about had it.”

“I’d apologize but I don’t really give a fuck,” Louis spat.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she yelled, throwing her hands in the air. She was starting to draw attention from other people now. “It’s like you don’t even care anymore!”

“How’s this,” Louis said, glancing at the few people who were slowing down to listen. “I stopped caring about you after I found you in our bed, fucking Nick Grimshaw.”

“You’re still on about that?” Eleanor scoffed.

Louis’ jaw dropped, “Of course I’m still on about that you twat! You betrayed my fucking trust.”

“And you won’t have sex with me anymore, what else was I supposed to do?” she sneered.

“You repulse me Eleanor, you really do.”

Louis could actually see steam coming out of Eleanor’s ears. She looked like she was either about to scream or cry, maybe both. “I don’t want you to come home tonight. Or tomorrow. I’ll text you when you can come back to the apartment,” she snarled.

“Right because you’re the one who pays the bills for it,” Louis spat at her.

“So you think I should be gone then?” she nearly yelled.

“Yeah, I mean after all, I’m not the one who cheated on you,” Louis said with a shrug. “No worries, I’ll stop by to get my stuff when you’re in class so you don’t have to see me.”

Louis didn’t wait to hear what she had to say to that, he just walked off towards McDonald’s, his only concern was where he was supposed to crash for the next few nights.

Before he got to McDonald’s, he saw Harry leaning against a tree looking absolutely stunning. The sight of him gave him butterflies.

“I felt bad, I didn’t want you to have to walk by yourself,” Harry explained before Louis had a chance to greet him.

“Thanks,” Louis smiled.

“How’d it go?” Harry asked him, having to slow his pace so he could keep up with Louis’ short strides.

“She kicked me out,” Louis shrugged.

“I’m sorry mate,” Harry said. “Do you need a hug?”

Louis laughed, “I’m not even upset, but I’d be a fool to turn down a hug from you.”

Harry tried to hide his smile as he pulled Louis into a hug. “You are such a flirt,” he said softly.

Louis nuzzled his face into the crook of Harry’s neck. He smelled nice and he was arm and his arms felt nice around him. “Only for the people I really like,” he mumbled.

“Where are you going to stay?” Harry asked, pulling away from him.

They started walking again. “I haven’t actually gotten that far. I’d ask to stay with Niall but his roommate hates me,” Louis said. “Maybe I’ll ask one of the guys from footie if I can stay with them.”

“You could always stay with me,” Harry suggested. “You’d have to crash on the couch though, I’ve only got one bedroom because I don’t have a roommate.”

“Really?” Louis asked. “I wouldn’t want to burden you with my stay.”

“No it’ll be fun!” Harry said excited. “We can stay up late and watch films and eat ice cream and do our nails and talk about boys!”

“You sound like the footie girlfriends,” Louis laughed. “But half of that doesn’t sound bad. Wanna swing by my place after we’re done eating to get my stuff? Think I’m just gonna pack a bag.”

“Sure,” Harry grinned.

They made their way into McDonald’s a few short minutes later. Niall and Zayn hadn’t waited for them and were already seated at a booth chatting away and eating.

After they ordered their food- “You are not allowed to steal my fries, Harold.”- they sat next to Niall and Zayn who were just about finished.

“How’s everything going, mate?” Zayn asked once they were seated (he and Harry sat across from each other which Louis didn’t particularly like).

“Fine I guess, Eleanor kicked me out,” Louis rolled his eyes and unwrapped his double cheeseburger.

“Fuck that!” Niall shouted, nearly dropping his pie and busting Louis’ ear drum, they were sat right next to each other for Christ’s sake. “You’re the one who pays rent and shit on it not her!”

“I know,” Louis said, picking off the pickles from his cheeseburger.

“You’re not going to eat those?” Harry asked. Louis shook his head and Harry took the pickles off his wrapper and popped them in his mouth, munching happily on them. “I offered my couch to him,” he said. “You’re welcome to stay with me any time you know, even when your girlfriend hasn’t kicked you out.”

“Thanks mate,” Louis winked.

Niall then started to reach over and take some of Louis’ fries. “Hey!” Louis exclaimed, slapping Niall’s hand away. “Mine.”

“You’re so mean,” Niall pouted at his empty tray of food.

A silence fell over them as they continued to eat. After five minutes, Harry smiled to himself and bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing.

“What’s so funny Styles?” Zayn asked him.

“Nothing,” Harry said, staring down at his tray.

Louis didn’t understand what he was going on about until he felt a foot gently kick his foot from underneath the booth. Louis nudged the foot back and, because Harry giggled right after, he realized he kicked Harry. But he nudged him right back and _oh my God is he playing footsie with me?_

In the process of playing footsie with each other, Niall and Zayn exchanged some confused glances because _what the hell were they on about?_

“Louis,” Harry whined.

“Yes Harry,” he sighed, only pretending to be exasperated.

“Can I have some of your fries?” he asked, gazing at him with big, green puppy-dog eyes that were so hard to resist.

Louis cocked his eyebrow up, trying to hide a smile, “Yeah sure.”

Harry took some fries from Louis’ tray and said thank you with a mouth full of them. Disgusting and somehow adorable.

“How come you’ll share with him and not me?” Niall whined.

Louis smiled at Harry, “Because he’s cute.”

“That’s so unfair,” Niall said, shooting a glance at Harry who was smirking at him. “Just because you don’t want me to suck you off doesn’t mean you can’t share with me.”

Zayn started cackling beside Harry, whose jaw dropped in surprise and the fry that was in his hand fell to the table.

“Please Nialler,” Louis said, flicking the fringe out of his eyes. “I’d rather be alone for the rest of my life and use my tears for lube when I wank than have you suck me off.”

This made Zayn howl with laughter and slap his hand on the table. Harry’s mouth turned up with a grin. Niall, though, looked shocked but mostly offended.

“Listen here you little shit,” Niall said. “I’ll give you the best goddamned blow job of your life if you don’t stop talking like that.”

“Please don’t come near my cock with your mouth, hands, or otherwise,” Louis warned him. Knowing Niall he’d probably do it too, just to prove he could give a good blowjob. He turned to Harry and said, “You on the other hand… be my guest.”

Harry winked at him and finished off the rest of Louis’ fries.

 

Harry and Louis made their way to Louis’ flat after they had finished their lunch. They had about an hour and a half to kill before their class together started.

“So this is your place, huh?” Harry asked, assessing the small, almost crowded, area they lived in.

“Yeah, follow me to my room if you’d like,” Louis said, walking down the hallway. He opened a door on his left and walked inside.

Harry followed him and the sight he’d seen before him was appalling. “Louis, do you ever do your laundry?” he asked, staring at the piles of clothes on the floor.

Louis shrugged as he grabbed a large sized bag out from his closet. “No, I’m hate housework, usually Eleanor does it but she refused to do it for me anymore,” he explained, sorting through his clothes and sniffing his shirts to see which ones were acceptable to wear or not.

“You guys have separate rooms then?” Harry asked, taking a seat on Louis’ bed.

“Well, yes and no,” Louis said, grabbing socks and jeans and whatever else he needed. “We shared the room Eleanor sleeps in for a while until she cheated. I took Niall’s old mattress and put it in here, which we were just using for storage anyway.”

“I see,” Harry said, admiring Louis’ bum as he bent down to pick something up.

“Are you staring at me bum, mate?” Louis asked after a lull of silence.

“Might be,” Harry smiled and laid back on Louis’ bed. He threw his arm over his eyes and sighed, relaxing.

“You look good like that, Hazza,” Louis said, roaming his eyes over Harry’s body. He looked so long and thin lying like that. “I think I’d like to see you lying like that only… maybe a little more sweaty, a little more spent-“

“You mean, like, post orgasm?” Harry turned over and asked, smiling.

Louis gasped. “Harold, what kind of slut do you take me for? I was thinking more like after a rousing game of footie.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Oh that’s too bad. I was up for trading orgasms, but now that you explained you were talking about playing footie, I’ll have to pass.”

“Wait,” Louis said. “Did I say footie? I meant hot, rough, fantastic sex.”

“Eh,” Harry said, rolling over to look at the ceiling, “I’m not feeling it anymore.”

Louis made a face and jumped on his bed and straddled Harry. “You tease!” he then proceeded to mercilessly tickle him until tears were steadily streaming down his face.

“Lou! Stop! Louis! Louise!” Harry begged.

“Nothing you can say or do will make me stop, Harriette!” Louis exclaimed, fingers flying to Harry’s sides and tickling him.

Harry bit his lip, forming a plan, and composed himself. “ _Oh fuck Louis_ ,” he moaned wantonly in his deepest voice. It was hard not to laugh, he’s never done that voice voluntarily before.

Just like he’d planned, Louis stopped what he was doing and sat back on Harry’s lap half hard and half confused as to what just happened.

“I knew I could get you to stop,” Harry said and sat up quickly to kiss Louis on the cheek.

“Oh you cheeky bastard, you,” Louis smirked. He poked Harry’s side once more and placed his hands on Harry’s hips. “I’d have to say I’m quite impressed. But I will promise you this: the next time you moan like that, you’ll be seeing stars because you’ll be having the best and most intense orgasm of your life. Compliments of me, of course.”

“I like the sounds of that,” Harry said, drawing circles on Louis’ arm, concentrating on _not_ getting a hard on while Louis was sitting on him. It was hard- no pun intended- and he really couldn’t stop it from happening.

“Getting excited there Styles?” Louis laughed and bounced up and down on Harry’s lap.

“That’s not really helping Lou,” Harry groaned and closed his eyes, trying very hard to focus on dead puppies and his grandmother.

“ _Christ_ , Styles, don’t groan like that while I’m sitting on you.”

“You could get off me,” Harry said, opening his eyes to see that Louis was staring intently at his mouth, his own lips parted slightly.

Harry watched as Louis licked his lips slowly and dragged his eyes back up to meet his. “I’d much rather stay put and kiss you,” he murmured, the grip he had on Harry’s hips got tighter, more possessive.

 _Tempting, tempting, tempting._ “A spectacular idea,” Harry said quietly. “But we probably shouldn’t.”

“Give me one good reason.”

“Eleanor?” Harry asked, furling his eyebrows. The moment her name passed Harry’s lips, Louis’ face fell. Like he had forgotten about her and Harry brought him back to a harsh reality.

“Right, I- just because she cheated doesn’t make it right if I do it too,” Louis sighed. He rolled off Harry in one swift movement and wedged himself between the boy and the wall the bed was up against.

Harry turned over to look at Louis. “You’re a good person, Louis.”

“Don’t remind me,” he huffed. “And you’re a good person too, by the way. I like that you’re not a home wrecker and didn’t jump at the chance to get in my pants.”

“You hate it, admit it,” Harry laughed.

Louis grinned, “What makes you say that?”

“You don’t seem like the type to get rejected much.” Harry smiled, “Besides, if we were to ever... I’d want to do it right. Take you to dinner and walk you home and point out constellations and kiss you underneath the stars.”

“Sounds like a date,” Louis smiled softly at him.

“Let’s just take things a step at a time.”

Louis shook his head, “I’m supposed to be packing you waffle-head.”

“Waffle-head?” Harry laughed.

“Yes, I’m going to get back to smelling my dirty shirts to see which ones are acceptable enough to be considered clean,” Louis said and got off the bed.

Harry laughed lightly. “Just bring what you want to wear and we can do your laundry tonight.”

Louis groaned and fell on the floor face down dramatically. “But I hate doing laundry, Harry. I hate it more than this stupid flat,” he whined.

Harry grinned and joined Louis on the floor. “But think about it, you get to see me bending over to put your clothes in the wash. You could look at my bum as much as you want,” he pointed out.

“You make a compelling argument,” Louis said. “How can I say no? Get every article of clothing in my flat, I want to be doing laundry for a very long time tonight.”

“That’s a lot of detergent,” Harry said to himself.

 

They made it back to Harry’s dorm in record time, however their excitement was all for naught when Harry’s dorm supervisor ran into them on their up to his room.

“What’s all this?” she asked, casting Louis a glare. “Why do you have an overnight bag? You don’t live in this dorm.”

“Uh- well you see, Mrs. Watson,” Harry stammered.

Louis looked to the stuttering boy and back at the angry woman. “I’m going to give it to you straight. My name is Louis Tomlinson, I’m a senior this year, I’m on the footie team and I’m the captain- ask anyone they know me. I _promise_ I’m a student here. Anyway, my girlfriend just kicked me out of our flat because she cheated on me and- it’s this whole mess right?”

“Get on with it,” she said, she looked less stern now however.

“Sorry, long story short: I’ve got nowhere to live and my best mate Harry Styles said I could crash on his couch until I make other arrangements,” Louis said.

Mrs. Watson sighed heavily, “This is extremely against the rules.”

“We’re both well aware but he’s got nowhere to go,” Harry said. “ _Please_ Caroline, it won’t be for long.”

She rolled her eyes, “He can stay here for a week, tops. If I still see him here past hours I’ll be forced to take matters into my own hands.”

“I’m sure I’ll be able to find somewhere to stay off campus by then,” Louis assured her.

 “I didn’t see either of you two today,” Caroline said sternly. “Understand? And keep this quiet, I’m not losing my job over this.”

Harry beamed at her, “Thank you so much!”

They made it to Harry’s dorm without any further complications. Louis was strewn about on Harry’s floor, flipping through last month’s magazines while Harry put together things he needed for their class.

“Still can’t believe we have the same class together,” Louis murmured, tossing aside the magazine he was looking at in favor of looking at Harry.

“Mmm,” Harry nodded in agreement. “I’m happy to have a friend in class now. No one really sits by me.”

“Dunno why not. Is it because you smell bad?”

“ _Hey_ ,” Harry protested with a grin.

Louis grinned back at him, his smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. It was a smile Harry thought he wouldn’t mind seeing every day.

“Who else is in our class then?” Louis asked after a moment of silence.

Harry shrugged, “No one I really know. It’s a big school, besides I’ve always been bad with names.”

“Fair enough,” Louis said, checking his phone for the time. “Think we should get going? It’s almost a quarter after.”

Harry nodded and they left for class not a minute later.

 

Louis was genuinely excited for this class because he got to spend so much extra time with Harry.

That was until they walked into class and the first fucking person he saw was that prat Nick Grimshaw.

“You’re fucking kidding me,” Louis hissed and stopped right in his tracks.

Harry placed his hand on the small of his back and guided him to the back of the room where he sat. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

Louis threw his bag onto the floor and took a seat at the table next to Harry. “The dark haired bloke at the front is Nick Grimshaw,” he spat. “Why didn’t you tell me he was in this class? I thought you knew him?”

“Of course I know him,” Harry defended himself, “He wasn’t in class the other day, I would’ve told you if he was in this class if I had known.”

Louis sighed, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed shit.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Harry said and offered him a reassuring smile. “We’ll be sitting in the back anyway; we don’t even have to look at him.”

“I just hate that he’s here,” Louis whispered because the professor just walked in and the students stopped talking. “He essentially ruined my relationship with Eleanor.”

“Wasn’t it on the outs anyway?” Harry whispered back.

Louis nodded, “Yeah but that was like the last straw you know? The tip of the iceberg and all that.”

“Understood.”

“Hello class!” the professor greeted them. “I’m Professor Cowell, do remember to address me as such. I know we already went over introductions but we’ve got some additions in the class so I wanted to introduce myself.”

Louis snuck a glance at Harry who was listening intently to everything Professor Cowell was saying, he kind of adored that he was so studious. Admiration swept over Louis in an instant and he felt his chest constrict with the feeling of it.

“Since we weren’t able to go over it last time, I wanted to discuss the final project of this class that will be due at the end of the semester,” Professor Cowell went on, “It’s a partner project- sorry, I know how dreadful those are. You and your partner will be photographing each other, essentially. I don’t really care if you’re doing a proper photo shoot or candids or still-lifes. I just don’t want to see any nudity or drug use, keep it family friendly.”

“Want to be my partner?” Louis whispered to Harry who nodded fervently.

“I’ll be getting into more detail about the project as the semester goes on, but I need you to pick your partners now. I have you do this so that you can start building a relationship with them, I need to see real emotions in these pictures.”

“What if you end up hating your partner?” a redheaded boy said near the middle of the classroom.

“Use the anger and the distaste to your advantage,” Professor Cowell smiled, “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Glad we get along then,” Harry whispered to Louis.

“Too bad we can’t have any nude photos,” Louis winked at him. Harry was blushing within seconds. Louis relished for a moment in his accomplishment, silently making a note to make Harry blush more often.

“We’ll spend about five minutes picking partners, go ahead and mingle,” the professor said, taking a seat at his desk.

“Thank God we weren’t assigned partners,” Louis said to Harry. “That would’ve been the actual worst.”

Harry laughed and nodded in agreement. Louis was about to comment on how pretty Harry’s laugh was when a tall blonde approached their table.

“Hi,” she said brightly. Her red lipstick made her teeth look particularly white but her American accent was off-putting. “You’re Harry right?”

“I am,” he said smiling easily at her. “I’m sorry; I don’t know who you are. I’m bad with names.”

“Taylor,” she said and stuck her hand out for Harry to shake. “I remember you from the other day, you made the joke about Kodak moments? It was awful but I like puns and you seem nice.”

“So you’re the one who laughed then?” Harry said, his ears perking up with interest.

“The only one,” she pointed out. Taylor had an easy grace about her, she was funny and a bit charming. Her hair was shiny and she was tall and skinny and her style was impeccable. She had that red lip, classic look that really never did get old. Taylor was, in a word, gorgeous and of course that sent Louis into a spiraling, jealousy fueled rage.

“Thanks for laughing,” Harry smiled.

Taylor smiled back, “You’re welcome. So, do you think we could be partners maybe?”

“Sorry love, he’s spoken for,” Louis said, the words tasted bitter in his mouth and reminded him of the bartender he’d said those exact words to yesterday. That in turn sparked the memory of Harry telling the lads that he was gay and Louis immediately felt horrible. His jealousy was totally misplaced.

“Crap,” she frowned and looked around the room. “Do you guys think the red head over there looks friendly?”

Both Louis and Harry turned to assess him; it was the bloke who commented about getting paired up with a bad partner.

“I bet he’s nice,” Harry said. “I think his name is Edward.”

“Thanks guys, maybe I’ll sit back here with you two? I _need_ a new spot. The guy sitting next to me is a total skeeze and won’t stop staring at my chest,” Taylor whispered.

“If his name is Nick punch him in the face for me,” Louis said to her.

She laughed, “Sorry, his name is Trevor actually. I never got yours though.”

“It’s Louis Tomlinson, and you should punch him in the face anyway,” he said with a friendly smile.

Taylor laughed again, “Maybe I will. Thanks guys.”

The boys watched her walk away and approach the ginger boy, who looked pleased to see her and seemed very interested in what she had to say.

“She seemed nice,” Louis commented.

“I’m spoken for then?” Harry asked. A giant smirk was plastered onto his face and his pretty green eyes were sparkling in the florescent light.

“Smug is not a good look on you, love,” Louis rolled his eyes.

Harry giggled with delight and teased Louis for the remainder of the class period. Even though he was being incessantly teased, Louis couldn’t help but smile and laugh with Harry. Amusement was a good look on him.


End file.
